A Report on Eclipse Activity

A Traazorite intelligence report on the Eclipse Sisterhood...
My Lords,
You have asked for an analysis of rebel attacks against our forces to make a better decision in how to combat them. What follows is my breakdown of Eclipse tactics in rural areas, urban centers, and in the far-flung frontier regions of Runah’s great empire.
After the analysis of tactics, I offer my humble suggestions for combating them and which Legions I believe would be best suited to defeating them in those regions. I have traveled the width and breadth of the Empire, my Lords, interviewing local officials and Legion officers as to their dealings with these wretched women. Though there are some similarities in their reports; geographic region, people group, and local geography all play a part in the tactics these rebels employ.
Of the things the Eclipse have in common one is their ability to mobilize out of nowhere. Before a significant attack or even a small one, you would expect to have reports of troop movements or suspicious activity in the area of the attack. This is never the case in an Eclipse attack. They are a complete surprise and never foreshadowed in any way. Their scouting is entirely covert and their information seems to be impeccable. Those who have tried to draw them out with “easy” targets are often met with disappointment. Those who find their traps work are often sorry they were right.
Another thing the Eclipse attacks seem to have in common is their ferocity. Every person I’ve talked to about Eclipse attacks indicates a fanatic disposition. Attacks are merciless and swift, usually over before a counterattack can be made. We have yet to capture many Eclipse fighters, and those that we do refuse to talk even with the strongest inducements.
The last thing I have noticed that Eclipse attacks seem to have in common is their small scale. To date, I know of not a single large scale battle that the Eclipse have engaged in with our forces.
And so with their commonalities out of the way, please allow me to break down where their tactics differ. The Eclipse rebellion seems to take on the characteristics of the local people’s, politics, and economy of the locale in which it takes place. This is likely true because it is most likely these very locals that are part of the rebellion.
In rural areas, the rebellion takes the form of disruption to military supplies and attacks on local patrols. Sadly, the safest place for a legionnaire to be right now is in the more rural parts of the empire. It is here that we find the least Eclipse aggression. Military supplies traveling through these areas seem to be the targets of choice for those rebels in rural areas. It is strange, as these supplies are often destroyed on the spot of the attack, suggesting the insurgents have no need for supplies and are likely to be supported by the local economy and populace rather than feed their rebellion on our supplies as we so often find in other uprisings that we have vanquished.
Attacks in rural areas are often on a small scale. The Eclipse seem loathe to risk open battle here where they can be easily seen and just as quickly brought to battle. Instead they loose arrows from wooded areas, quickly retreating before we can deploy a response or, like the heathens they are, use the night to steal supplies and make small attacks against patrols or individual soldiers who have foolishly decided to wander alone. Their archers employed in the rural areas are deadly; both accurate close and at very long range. During some attacks it is hard to tell just where the arrows are coming from.
I fear to control the rural areas, we must first tighten our grip on them. I don’t believe it will be enough to maintain garrisons in rural centers; every village will need some legion presence to stymie the sympathy that the rebels seem to garner here naturally. We must also make sure that our priests in these villages are instructed in how to root out the heresy that spreads such rebellion. They are the best-placed asset we have to identify potential rebels and malcontents in the rural portions of our empire.
We must also take care to protect our government officials that are assigned to these rural areas. Our governors and their advisors have been the subject of assassination attempts, most of which have been successful. A solid military escort is highly suggested whenever an Empire official moves outside his compound. Urban areas present unique challenges for insurgents and expose specific weaknesses in our attempts to dismantle this sinful rebellion. The Eclipse are especially active in our cities and despite the massive troop concentrations there we cannot seem to root them out.
Disinformation and heretical lies are vicious weapons wielded by the Eclipse in our cities. From small written statements of their beliefs, to outright lies about the Emperor, the Eclipse have made good use of the quill and parchment. They also paint their slogans on highly visible walls and buildings throughout are city. I don’t need to explain to you, my Lords, how much fear and uncertainty these acts generate in the public.
The Eclipse in the cities are also actively violent. Assassination is a favorite tool, and I hope by now that none of our officials or soldiers are moving about a city alone. The assassination are highly public, though usually carried out by cowards with an arrow rather than up close where we might thwart them, or better still, catch them. I have also been given reports of entire patrols going missing in the night. These hapless legionaries, no doubt bewitched while Runah sleeps, are found days later if at all, brutally murdered for the crime of trying to keep the Empire safe.
Supply wagons leaving or entering these cities are not safe either. Many are pilfered or set aflame before they reach the city gates. Drivers should be reminded never to travel at night and to find a safe, open space to rest.
As with rural areas, large skirmishes with the Eclipse are non-existent. Like cowards, they refuse to go to battle to settle their grievances with might. Few of our soldiers have ever seen an Eclipse fighter, let alone fought one in battle. Those few who have seen them are mostly killed. Those that aren’t report little more than shadows mercilessly killing everyone and then disappearing again before the might of our Legions can be brought to bear.
Destroying the Eclipse is far more complex than we had at first thought. Our first priority must be to turn the populace against them. A militant rebellion could not survive if the population they hide in turn them out. My humble suggestion is to offer rewards to any citizen who gives information leading to the capture or killing of an Eclipse fighter or sympathizer. Make the reward compelling; greed will turn allegiances even within families.
We must also swell our military within the cities. Double the number of soldiers patrolling our streets and even the Eclipse will think twice about attacking or stealing supplies.
Lastly, I would like to bring up the frontier areas of our Empire; those areas that are subject to Runah but do not have a large population and are on the far-flung borders of the Empire. These places are difficult to administer without a rebellion. Our meager forces there are spread thin with basic Garrison duties and protecting the borders of The Empire, even if no external threats can be seen on the horizon. In these areas, the Eclipse rebellion seems to have the most success and is the boldest militarily. Our outposts are regularly attacked, our supply trains are ransacked, and our soldiers are murdered even in their sleep. It is here and only here, especially in the jungles of Izchak, where the Eclipse turn out in numbers and force battle on our Legions. These border and frontier areas are incredibly vulnerable because of existing sentiment against The Empire, especially where religious norms have been outlawed or indigenous peoples have been pressed into military service or hard labor.
These grievances are ripened by a well-organized and led Eclipse underground who then turns the otherwise peaceful but grumbling women of the Empire into the murderous monsters of the Eclipse. Ambush is a favorite tactic in these areas, as many of the main roads are not regularly patrolled and our outposts are spaced farther apart and lightly manned. These roads are not the same as those that crisscross the civilized areas of The Empire. Comparatively, many of them are little better than animal paths and yet we are forced to use them because we have not committed the resources necessary to bring these backward savages into the Empire. 
This lack of foresight has created a situation where we, the most powerful army ever to raise their sakhazets in violence, are militarily at a disadvantage and find themselves pent up in the forts.  At the same time, a rebellion controls the countryside and terrorizes our army. Without doubt, we need to reinforce these areas. The senate’s decision to pull troops out of the Karaymeth and to spread our forces more thinly in the Izchak province one hundred years ago has proven to be a decision that gave both of these areas so crucial to The Empire into the waiting hands of a rebellion.
Tripling our forces in the border and frontier regions is a good start; quadrupling them would stem the tide of battle that has turned so precipitously against us there. Moving thousands of laborers into these areas to widen the roads and open the areas to either side of the roads is a must if we are to travel safely between our outposts. Also, these outposts must double, halving the distance between them. Manning them properly would allow us to increase patrols and even begin to hunt down and destroy these rebels in their bases.
Lastly, as it concerns these frontier areas, I believe it would be wise to stop allowing troops raised in these areas to serve there as well. These provincial troops, raised chiefly against their will or at the behest of some political deal-making with local leaders, does not serve The Empire well. These troops are loathe to chase after those they know to be their sisters and wives. Surely their loyalty can not be entirely with Runah! When we raise these troops, we must carry them as far from their homes as possible so their sympathies will not lie with those same rebels we ask them to treat as enemies. Better yet, long-standing historied Legions should be moved into these areas to bolster those already there. 
The Viper Legion and the Scorpion Legion are capable, disciplined soldiers. If they had but numbers and concentration, they would have already won this battle for us. Send others like them into these areas and bring the provincial troops in to take their places where battles are not being fought and their families are not fighting them. The Chelhafa Legion is ready and capable of transfer immediately as they sit in Garrison, wasting away from boredom. The Velozar Legion is always ready to send members of their legion into an embattled area. Let our raptors hunt the Eclipse for a change.
As I leave this subject my Lords, let me offer one other observation. Almost all of the soldiers I talked to in my research commented on the Eclipse ability with the sakhazet. It isn’t just a weapon that they steal. It was obvious to soldiers on the front lines, and especially Bladesworn, that the rebellion is being trained in the same blade disciplines as our Bladeschools offer. 
My initial disbelief that a woman could be trained to handle a sakhazet was courageously overturned by those bladesworn that I talked with in my endeavor. If this is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, I do not need to tell you what a grave threat this poses. These rebel bladeschools must be found and destroyed. The Blademasters who are teaching them must be killed. To do this will be no small feat. however, and I believe that we must involve our Bladeschools in the effort. The more bladesworn that are fighting the Eclipse, either as part of our legions or in small Azema, the better The Empire will be.
I pray to Runah that this report has been helpful and that some of my suggestions will help turn the tide of battle against these vicious and heretical rebels.
Ever Runah's Servant,
Fadat Karaba